In 1837 the firm of Williamson & Burroughs was dissolved. Isaiah retired, and his youngest brother, Mahlon, became the active Williamson of the firm. It was reorganized under the name of Williamson, Burroughs & Clark. Isaiah left money in the firm as a special partner.
This was the end of Isaiah V. Williamson's active participation in the life of Philadelphia as a drygoods merchant. He felt that he had made a comfortable fortune in less than twelve years, and in those times the possession of one hundred thousand dollars was considered a large fortune. For a man still in his thirties to have made in a little over a decade a sum like this by straight business dealing—no speculation—was a remarkable feat. At the time of his retirement he had the reputation of being one of the richest young merchants in Philadelphia, and he was much praised because his money was the result of his own effort.
It was not uncommon in the past for business men to fix an age or the amassing of a certain sum of money as the time of retiring from business. In our own time there are men
